Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 249

tertius and bob both have it right Doc. My right ankle problem stems from having broken it twice, one in junior varsity high school football as a sophomore and the other time in college as a senior at the NCAA regionals in judo. That wasn't even the worst of the judo injuries either. A nasty dislocated shoulder is probably at the root of my delt problems recently. Then there was the wrenched left knee and having broken every toe (except the big ones) on both feet at least once and a few several times. All these problems combined I think cause my occasional back and left foot and ankle problems to throw off my gait and bring them on. Thanks for the fit at any age tertius, I have to say July has had me feeling every day of 60, but August is a new month and I'll by God be better or know the bloody reason why. bob's counsel is right on track and well worth keeping in mind at any age.

Jujitsu today had me working with the 12 year old blue belt I haven't seen lately. He did better than usual and showed more confidence than in the past. I'm pretty sure his mom has moved back in with her parents so I spent extra time between coaching the techniques to joke with him and telling him what he was doing right. The wrong thing is always what gets focused on by too many others I see teaching, and I want to give the positive feedback of emphasizing the good stuff the learner is doing. He in particular I think, needs it.

We did some counters to a two handed long arm choke from behind with an over-arm capture, hook punch to the ribs, with a final hooking in of the head displacing the neck a step back to a takedown. Then there was the two handed push from behind where the arm is dropped under the attacker's arms and then raised as you walk through the attacker's linear attack which knocks him over backward. The latter was a very smooth and neat technique. A two handed front push or attempt at a front choke was stopped by a direct high palm heel strike to the sternum with the wrist then cocking forward into a spear hand thrust with the palm facing down into the trachea. It not only stops the attacker's linear frontal assault but the spear hand drives them right back. I outweigh this kid by 120 lbs. and he stopped me, something I made sure I pointed out to him given our size and strength differential. You could see him inflating.

We then did another two handed push frontal attack disruption with a bow and arrow arm separation to fingertip thrust to the mastoid that makes your eyes blur and renders you buoyant as you try to rise on the toes to get away from the pain. Then you begin to cause the head to turn with a push pull of the finger tips causing the rest of him to turn, because as I learned at 18 in judo, where the head goes, the body follows. Once you have spun the attacker so that his back is to you, the fingertips dig in deeper and further inward while you pull him backward and on to the ground.

I finished off the session with the brown belt I worked with last week. We had a frank chat about control and he agreed to be more careful in the future.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 249

5 minute warmup on the bike. (Heavy Day)

Overhead Press: 185 x 5 x 3. Shoulder was solid as a rock. The reps are getting near failure now with 3 minutes rest between sets. Going to 4 minutes or more for the next heavy session. The geezer dude bros were like loud spider monkeys who had eaten prunes around the racks this morning.

Sumo Deadlift: 355 x 2. I tried for the 3rd rep I had scheduled, but I lost lock on form and straightened my knees too soon by concentrating too hard on keeping the bar close to my body to the exclusion of all else. The knees locked, and I bent the bar into a slight parabola while breaking the three plates etc. free of gravity's grip on them on the floor. But decided it was not worth my back to go for more. Dearly Beloved heartily agreed when she asked for and got an injury status report a few minutes ago when I got home. Next time.

I did a GXP and finished out with the usual suspects; foam rolling and stretching.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Nice work, cap'n.

[bob g]

...
Overhead Press: 185 x 5 x 3.

Yowza

Sumo Deadlift: 355 x 2.

X2

[Oldster]

Overhead Press: 185 x 5 x 3. Shoulder was solid as a rock. The reps are getting near failure now with 3 minutes rest between sets. Going to 4 minutes or more for the next heavy session.

Make sure you're rested, boss. You don't get stronger by hustling through your sessions. Glad to see the shoulder is getting better.

When I lift alone I tend to use a stopwatch to track my time. If I don't, I end up going way to fast and it costs me in the long run.

Great lifting!

[Oldster]

Overhead Press: 185 x 5 x 3. Shoulder was solid as a rock. The reps are getting near failure now with 3 minutes rest between sets. Going to 4 minutes or more for the next heavy session.

Make sure you're rested, boss. You don't get stronger by hustling through your sessions. Glad to see the shoulder is getting better.

When I lift alone I tend to use a stopwatch to track my time. If I don't, I end up going way to fast and it costs me in the long run.

Great lifting!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you all gentlemen. I time my sets on my watch. I've been buying the large numeral digital watches for over 10 years, so I can read them with glasses off. Heh, I'm up to a size 14 point font in Times New Roman in the spreadsheet I take with me to the gym so I can read the numbers. So more rest is in my plan between sets. My next heavy OHP session is 190 lbs. which is where I left off before getting 215 for a single. I've determined to keep at this run until I can get 195 x 5 x 3. That should get me to 225 for a single. Then I'm concentrating on dropping the 30 lbs. even harder.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Rip says that, when the weight gets heavy, the lifter becomes stupid and deaf. I find that, when I’m recovering from a hard set, I lose short-term memory and the ability to do basic arithmetic. A stop watch or timer is something I need, because I often have trouble remembering when I stopped the set.

[Oldster]

I find that, when I’m recovering from a hard set, I lose short-term memory and the ability to do basic arithmetic. A stop watch or timer is something I need, because I often have trouble remembering when I stopped the set.

A stopwatch is invaluable when lifting. I can't imagine not using mine, otherwise I would be done with my entire workout in 15 minutes wondering why I had so much trouble.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Good tips for sure and thank you. I just need to think 4-5 minutes now instead of 3. I really appreciate this kind of advice. I'll start using the stopwatch function on my large numeral digital watch. Trust me spar, the short term memory does not improve with age.